EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Schools (Surplus Places)

David Miliband: We are today publishing data on surplus places in primary and secondary schools in England.
	The survey returns indicate that there were 482,078 surplus primary places in January 2003. This is 11 per cent. of the total capacity of 4,450,723, and an increase in surplus of 33,041 places since 2001 when the last survey was conducted. This reflects the recent and continuing fall in numbers of primary aged children. In the secondary sector there were 231,391 surplus places, representing 7 per cent. of the total capacity of 3,455,993, and a fall in surplus of 19,342 places since 2001.
	Dealing effectively and sensitively with falling rolls presents a real challenge to individual schools and to local education authorities (LEAs). While it is for individual LEAs to consider the scope for removing surplus places, the Department encourages them, when planning, to concentrate on those schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus (and at least 30 surplus places) which are also performing badly.
	In some cases it is sensible to propose the closure or amalgamation of schools. In others, surplus places can provide opportunities for extended schools providing a range of other services alongside schooling and for wider community use of school premises.
	Recognising the scale of the challenge faced by many LEAs with falling primary rolls, the Department proposes to establish a working group with our partner organisations to explore the options and opportunities available to schools and communities.
	The table attached sets out the numbers of primary and secondary surplus places by local authority area as at January 2003. The table also highlights the number of schools which had surplus of 25 per cent. or more, and at least 30 surplus places. The number of schools in this category has decreased by 25, from 2,441 in January 2001 to 2,416.
	The number of LEAs having high levels of surplus places (20 per cent. of schools with 25 per cent. or more surplus and at least 30 surplus places) fell from 22 in 2001 to 19 in 2003.
	
		Surplus Places 1 January 2003
		
			  Primary Secondary 
			  Actual Surplus 2 Schools with surplus of25 per cent. or more 3 Actual Surplus Schools with surplus of25 per cent. or more 3  
			 LEA Name Number of places Surplus as a per cent. of total places Number Per cent. Number of places Surplus as a per cent. of total places Number Per cent. 
		
		
			 Barking & Dagenham 1,342 8   604 5   
			 Barnet 2,520 10 9 10 960 4 2 10 
			 Barnsley 1,175 6 3 4 805 6 1 7 
			 Bath & NE Somerset 1,520 11 7 10 843 6 2 15 
			 Bedfordshire 3,265 12 18 12 3,060 8 9 14 
			 Bexley 1,779 8 7 11 812 4   
			 Birmingham 7,162 7 25 8 2,998 4 3 4 
			 Blackburn 1,048 7 4 7 795 8 1 11 
			 Blackpool 719 6 3 9 335 4   
			 Bolton 1,690 7 5 5 373 2   
			 Bournemouth 1,182 10 5 18 490 5 1 10 
			 Bracknell Forest 972 10 2 6 895 13 1 17 
			 Bradford 7,150 14 29 18 2,992 8 2 7 
			 Brent 2,950 13 10 17 1,185 7 2 14 
			 Brighton & Hove 1,790 10 5 9 889 7 2 20 
			 Bristol 3,880 13 23 19 2,039 11 1 5 
			 Bromley 1,559 6 8 10 480 2   
			 Buckinghamshire 4,332 10 22 12 1,257 4 1 3 
			 Bury 1,102 7 4 6 253 2   
			 Calderdale 1,891 10 6 7 497 3   
			 Cambridgeshire 5,819 12 26 13 3,236 9 2 10 
			 Camden 1,077 10 2 5 84 1   
			 Cheshire 7,505 12 40 14 2,837 6 7 16 
			 Cornwall 4,154 10 20 8 1,376 4   
			 Corporation of London 6 3   
			 Coventry 2,935 10 8 9 1,542 7 2 11 
			 Croydon 2,414 8 9 10 1,923 10 1 5 
			 Cumbria 3,450 8 18 6 4,207 11 6 14 
			 Darlington 849 9 3 9 548 8   
			 Derby City of 2,356 10 11 14 755 5 1 8 
			 Derbyshire 6,504 10 40 11 3,117 6 3 6 
			 Devon 5,291 9 32 10 1,523 4   
			 Doncaster 3,152 14 15 14 1,712 7   
			
			 Dorset 3,185 11 24 17 1,731 5 2 5 
			 Dudley 2,687 9 6 7 595 3 1 5 
			 Durham 8,552 18 69 28 4,079 11 4 8 
			 Ealing 2,523 10 6 9 666 4 1 8 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 2,606 9 16 12 1,011 4   
			 East Sussex 2,791 7 11 7 1,670 6 2 7 
			 Enfield 995 4 3 5 2,326 10 1 6 
			 Essex 13,462 11 48 10 6,003 6 4 5 
			 Gateshead 2,710 15 16 21 972 8   
			 Gloucestershire 4,794 10 27 11 2,737 6 2 5 
			 Greenwich 2,289 11 7 11 1,905 12 2 13 
			 Hackney 1,947 117 7 13 931 11 1 11 
			 Halton 1,258 11 7 13 383 4 2 25 
			 Hammersmith & Fulham 1,254 13 6 17 1,369 18 2 22 
			 Hampshire 10,414 10 39 9 5,001 7 5 7 
			 Haringey 1,616 8 4 6 698 6   
			 Harrow 2,832 13 6 11 283 3   
			 Hartlepool 837 9 3 10 629 9   
			 Havering 1,155 6 2 3 974 6 1 6 
			 Herefordshire 1,421 10 6 7 495 5   
			 Hertfordshire 13,231 13 67 16 9,832 11 11 13 
			 Hillingdon 2,528 11 6 9 1,133 6 2 12 
			 Hounslow 2,174 11 6 10 441 3   
			 Isle of Wight 1,012 12 1 2 1,543 11   
			 Isles of Scilly 265
			 Islington 1,760 12 7 15 589 7 1 11 
			 Kensington & Chelsea 617 9   202 5   
			 Kent 9,455 8 36 8 6,915 7 12 12 
			 Kingston upon Hull City of 3,913 15 7 9 1,070 6 1 7 
			 Kingston upon Thames 768 7 2 5 619 7 1 10 
			 Kirklees 3,948 11 15 10 2,989 10 4 13 
			 Knowsley 3,595 20 19 32 1,768 15 2 18 
			 Lambeth 1,826 9 5 8 762 10   
			 Lancashire 12,466 12 67 14 4,816 6 4 5 
			 Leeds 8,487 13 42 17 3,647 7 8 19 
			 Leicester City 4,120 14 16 19 744 4   
			 Leicestershire 5,629 10 26 12 1,816 4 3 4 
			 Lewisham 2,343 11 6 9 711 6   
			 Lincolnshire 6,844 11 42 15 3,533 7 7 11 
			 Liverpool 5,906 14 24 17 2,286 6 2 6 
			 Luton 1,756 9 5 8 344 3   
			 Manchester 5,690 14 23 17 1,614 6 2 9 
			 Medway Towns 2,574 10 12 13 1,649 8 1 5 
			 Merton 2,836 19 8 19 870 9   
			 Middlesbrough 2,245 15 11 24 797 10 1 13 
			 Milton Keynes 3,266 13 17 20 1,542 11 2 18 
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 2,280 11 9 13 1,427 7 1 6 
			 Newham 1,729 6 4 6 1,326 7 1 7 
			 Norfolk 8,197 11 42 11 2,939 6 4 8 
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,865 12 6 10 931 7 1 8 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,101 8 1 1 1,167 10 1 7 
			 North Somerset 782 5 4 6 250 2   
			 North Tyneside 2,726 15 11 20 826 6   
			 North Yorkshire 6,229 12 34 10 3,417 8 3 6 
			 Northamptonshire 5,847 10 30 11 4,598 8 6 10 
			 Northumberland 2,550 13 11 8 2,465 8 4 7 
			 Nottingham City of 3,940 15 20 20 1,540 10 5 26 
			 Nottinghamshire 6,121 9 29 9 3,670 7 3 6 
			 Oldham 2,332 10 6 6 888 5 1 7 
			 Oxfordshire 6,813 14 36 16 2,341 6 5 11 
			 Peterborough 2,756 15 11 20 1,898 13 3 23 
			 Plymouth City of 3,017 13 12 15 863 5 2 12 
			 Poole 726 6   205 2   
			 Portsmouth 2,384 14 13 25 802 7   
			 Reading 1,751 16 7 18 854 12 2 29 
			 Redbridge 1,091 5 1 2 1,245 6 1 6 
			 Redcar & Cleveland 1,762 13 9 18 1,204 11 2 18 
			 Richmond upon Thames 732 6 1 2 359 5   
			 Rochdale 2,818 13 18 24 1,224 8 1 7 
			
			 Rotherham 1,988 8 5 5 1,312 6 1 6 
			 Rutland 608 19 5 29 345 13 1 33 
			 Salford 3,097 14 19 23 2,154 15 3 21 
			 Sandwell 4,096 13 19 19 1,917 9 1 6 
			 Sefton 3,344 13 16 18 874 4 1 5 
			 Sheffield 4,587 10 16 11 700 2   
			 Shropshire 3,787 15 22 15 573 3   
			 Slough 1,564 13 5 17 309 4 1 9 
			 Solihull 1,162 6 4 6 164 1   
			 Somerset 4,936 12 28 13 2,550 7 4 10 
			 South Gloucestershire 2,942 11 10 10 1,462 8 1 7 
			 South Tyneside 1,853 13 11 20 1,461 12 2 20 
			 Southampton 1,776 10 7 11 1,478 11 2 14 
			 Southend 723 5 1 2 638 5 1 8 
			 Southwark 2,737 11 5 7 686 6 1 8 
			 St Helens 1,402 9 4 7 298 2   
			 Staffordshire 8,256 11 47 15 2,602 4 4 4 
			 Stockport 2,302 9 11 11 794 5   
			 Stockton on Tees 1,947 11 3 5 839 6   
			 Stoke on Trent 3,663 16 15 19 487 3 1 6 
			 Suffolk 5,688 11 25 10 4,957 8 6 8 
			 Sunderland 3,844 14 13 15 2,146 10 4 17 
			 Surrey 8,501 10 42 13 3,706 6 6 11 
			 Sutton 915 6 3 7 598 4   
			 Swindon 2,146 11 7 11 877 7 1 10 
			 Tameside 1,824 9 6 8 808 5 2 11 
			 Telford and the Wrekin 1,542 10 4 6 854 8 1 8 
			 Thurrock 2,271 15 7 15 760 9 1 9 
			 Torbay 807 8 3 9 145 2   
			 Tower Hamlets 2,013 9 4 6 1,424 9 2 13 
			 Trafford 1,187 6 6 8 993 6 2 11 
			 Wakefield 3,846 12 15 12 614 3   
			 Walsall 3,334 12 12 13 998 4 1 5 
			 Waltham Forest 1,272 6 5 8 980 7 2 12 
			 Wandsworth 2,025 12 9 16 679 6 1 11 
			 Warrington 1,857 10 9 13 395 3   
			 Warwickshire 4,263 10 20 10 2,652 7 2 5 
			 West Berkshire 1,328 10 8 12 330 3   
			 West Sussex 7,348 11 30 12 3,804 8 3 8 
			 Westminster 1,122 11 3 8 840 9   
			 Wigan 2,676 9 12 11 1,441 7 2 10 
			 Wiltshire 6,877 16 47 21 3,974 12 8 24 
			 Windsor & Maidenhead 670 8 5 11 524 5 1 8 
			 Wirral 3,735 13 17 17 1,472 6   
			 Wokingham 1,304 10 7 13 316 3   
			 Wolverhampton 3,436 14 18 22 1,713 9 4 22 
			 Worcestershire 4,616 11 26 13 2,589 6 5 7 
			 York 2,455 16 12 22 608 6 1 9 
			 TOTAL 482,078 11 2,146 12 231,391 7 270 8 
		
	
	Note 1: Primary figures show surplus after taking account of summer entry.
	Note 2: Actual surplus is defined as the difference between capacity and number on roll for all schools where capacity exceeds number on roll.
	Note 3: Schools with less than 30 surplus places are not included.Note 4: Blanks denote no surplus.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Passport and Records Agency

Beverley Hughes: The Passport and Records Agency Accounts 2002–03 have been published today and I am pleased to say that copies of the report have been placed in the Library of the House.

TREASURY

Financial Services and Markets Act

Ruth Kelly: I announced the start of the two year review of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 in a written statement to Parliament on 4 November 2003, Official Report, (Col 28WS). In that statement I said that the Government intended to issue during February a public consultation document on changes to the boundary of financial services regulation. A consultation document was issued today. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Draft Disability Discrimination Bill

Andrew Smith: When I published the draft Disability Discrimination Bill on 3 December 2003, (Cm 6058), I emphasised a priority to meet our 2001 manifesto commitment in the lifetime of this Parliament—on extending rights of disabled people and removing barriers to their participation in society. I also announced our intention to publish a further clause which would protect disabled local councillors from discrimination by the local authority of which they are a member. This meets the commitment in "Towards Inclusion", the Government's response to the recommendations of the disability rights taskforce.
	I am pleased to announce that I have today laid before Parliament the draft clause which becomes clause 15 of the draft Disability Discrimination Bill (Cm 6126, Draft Disability Discrimination Bill—Clause 15: relationships between locally-electable authorities and their members). Alongside the clause are published expltory notes, prepared by my Department, to assist the Joint Scrutiny Committee of Parliament which is considering the draft Bill. The draft clause and notes are also available on http:// www.disability.gov.uk.

DEFENCE

Free Packet Service (Gulf)

Adam Ingram: On 17 April 2003, with the generous support of the Royal Mail Group, the Ministry of Defence introduced a free postal service to enable families to post packets up to 2kg free of charge to BFPO addresses in the Gulf. The provision of a free packet service recognised the difficult conditions personnel were operating in and that it was not possible to provide the full spectrum of welfare support normally available to personnel on operations. Whilst southern Iraq is not yet a benign environment, the level of welfare support and the facilities available on Operation TELIC are now comparable to those provided in other operational theatres.
	It has therefore been decided that from 8 April 2004 with the handover of 20 Armoured Brigade to 1 Mechanised Brigade this free service will cease. This date should allow for any Easter gifts to be sent under the free service.
	In common with other operations, personnel in Iraq are provided with free forces air letters and their electronic counterparts ("Blueys" and "eblueys") in addition to free Internet access and free 20 minute phone calls each week. Families may also send packets up to 2kg in weight to personnel in the Gulf at a concessionary rate—the equivalent of the UK inland First Class postal rate. The NAAFI/Expeditionary Forces Institute also sells through its outlets in theatre many of the small consumable items that families were previously sending to personnel and this has led to a significant decline in the demand for the free packet service.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Council of the European Union

Denis MacShane: The forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union is as follows:
	
		
			  
		
		
			 March 
			 1–2 Cork ASEM Finance Deputies' Meeting 
			 2 Brussels Environment Council 
			 3 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 3 Brussels COREPER 2 
			 4–6 Co. Clare Youth Ministerial Conference 
			 4–5 Brussels Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs (Ministerial Informal) 
			 8 Brussels Meeting of Eurogroup 
			 8–9 Ankara EU Ministerial Troika with Turkey 
			 8–9 Brussels Transport, Telecom & Energy Council 
			 9 Brussels ECOFIN 
			 10 Brussels COREPER 2 
			 10 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 11 Dublin EU/Russia Ministerial Meeting (Troika) 
			 12 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 17 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 18 Brussels COREPER 2 
			 18 Ottawa EU Cda Summit (Troika) 
			 18–19 Dublin OECD Ministers Conference 
			 19 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 22 Brussels Agriculture & Fisheries Council 
			 22–23 Brussels General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC) 
			 24 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 24 Brussels COREPER 2 
			 24–25 Brussels Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee 
			 25–26 Brussels EUROPEAN COUNCIL 
			 30 Dublin EU/Ukraine Ministerial Meeting (Troika) 
			 30 Brussels Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal) 
			 31 Brussels COREPER 1 
			 April 
			 2 Punchestown Meeting of Eurogroup 
			 2–3 Punchestown ECOFIN 
			 7–8 Co. Wicklow Ministerial Conference on Communicating Europe 
			 16–17 Tullamore GYMNICH 
			 17 Co. Kildare ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting 
			 26–27 Brussels General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC) 
			 26–27 Brussels Agriculture & Fisheries Council 
			 27 Luxembourg EU/Russia Permanent Partnership Council (Troika?) 
			 29–30 Brussels Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee 
			 29–30 Brussels Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal) 
			 May 
			 6–7 Dublin EuroMed Foreign Ministers 
			 7 Limerick Meeting of Ministers with responsibility for Equality 
			 9–11 Killarney Agriculture Informal Ministerial Meeting 
			 10 Brussels Meeting of Eurogroup 
			 11 Brussels ECOFIN 
			 11–12 Cork Health Ministers Consultative Meeting 
			 14–16 Waterford Informal Meeting of EU Environment Ministers 
			 17–18 Brussels General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC) 
			 19–20 Offaly Informal Budget Committee 
			 21 Moscow EU/Russia Summit (Troika) 
			 23–25 Brussels Agriculture & Fisheries Council 
			 24–25 Brussels Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee 
			 24–25 Brussels Agriculture & Fisheries Council 
			 25–27 Co. Galway Conference on Islands and Territorial cohesion— Meeting New Challenges 
			 27–28 Brussels Education, Youth & Culture Council 
			 27–31 Dublin Ministers and Directors General of Public Administration 
			 28 Guadalajara EU-Latin America/Caribbean Summit 
			 June 
			 1–2 Luxembourg Health Council 
			 1 Dublin Development Ministers' Meeting 
			 1 Luxembourg Meeting of Eurogroup 
			 2 Luxembourg ECOFIN 
			 8 Luxembourg Justice & Home Affairs Council Meeting 
			 10–11 Luxembourg Transport, Telecom & Energy Council 
			 14–15 Luxembourg General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC) 
			 17–18 Brussels EUROPEAN COUNCIL 
			 21–22 Luxembourg Agriculture & Fisheries Council 
			 21–22 Brussels Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee 
			 28–29 Luxembourg Council Meeting of EU Environment Ministers 
			 July 
			 1 Brussels Coreper 2 
			 2–3 Maastricht Competitiveness (Informal) 
			 7 Brussels Coreper 1 
			 7–8 Brussels Coreper 2 
			 8 tbc EU-Ukraine Summit 
			 8–10 Maastricht Social Policy (Informal) 
			 9–10 Amsterdam Transport (Informal) 
			 12–13 Brussels General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC) 
			 12–14 Rotterdam Informal Ministerial Education Youth and Culture 
			 14 Brussels Coreper 1 
			 15 Brussels Coreper 2 
			 16–18 Maastricht Environment (Informal) 
			 19 Brussels JHA Council 
			 19 Brussels Agricultural and Fisheries Council 
			 22 Brussels Coreper 2 
			 23 Brussels Coreper 1 
			 August 
			 No meetings planned